Word: monteverdi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) itself, however, pulled its own attention-grabbing weight from the first scene. Monteverdi would have been proud, especially if he had seen the costuming. Perhaps it was the "irony" of looking at the scantily costumed goddess Virtue (Katie Szal '99), or the cute power behind choir boy Jonathan "Yoni" Heilman's role as Amor that so easily distracted me from the layout of the orchestra pit. More probably it was the beautiful magenta flush of the entire stage, revealed at last as the prelude finished...
Granted it's not on the First Night's curriculum, but Claudio Monteverdi's L'Incoronzione di Poppea may still be one hell of a cultural experience. Forego a night at the Grille and hustle over to the Agassiz for the Harvard-Radcliffe Early Music Society and the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra's presention of Monteverdi's final opera 8 p.m., Agassiz Theater, Radcliffe Yard. Tickets...
...concert revival of a Broadway show? Easy enough--just get the sheet music, assemble an orchestra and cast, and start playing. Well, no. A 17th century Monteverdi opera has cleaner, fuller charts than many an old Broadway hit, whose arrangements might have ended up in the garage or garbage. The parts for the Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II Sweet Adeline, which was performed outdoors, had dead mosquitoes stuck to the pages. Says Daykin: "The musicians didn't know if it was a note or a dead...
...program began with a welcome by Professor Thomas Kelly, in which he gave a brief history of the Vespers. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is believed to have composed this collection of works in thirteen parts for the Gonzaga family, the rulers of the duchy of Mantua, for whom he was court composer. The Vespers is one of the daily hours of Roman Catholic worship, and Monteverdi's Vespers contains the texts of all of the essential prayers: the opening versicle and response, five psalms to the Virgin Mary, the hymn, and the Magnificat. Interwoven in these works is a collection...
...richness of Monteverdi's music is amazing, especially considering the era in which he composed. He uses the full range of colors and emotions available to him through the ancient instruments and voices, as can be heard in his numerous contrasts of tone throughout the Vespers. The psalmic settings (which were numbered incorrectly in the program except for Psalm 147) follow the Gregorian chant, but with great variations. On the other hand, the motets employs a style radical for those times: the "monody" or duet writing, which has a bolder and more expressive sound. Particularly beautiful is the transition from...